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Here we are with the first full week of results for 2014. How would the British pound kick off the New Year – and would it do it in style?

An overview of the currency markets for January 6th – January 10th 2014

So as the week began the British pound sat at 1.6417 against the US dollar. Where would it travel from here? The early answer was down, slipping to 1.6382 on Monday. It was soon doing better though as it improved to close Monday on 1.6412. From there it improved to 1.6423 the following day, although it had a couple of hesitant days that would see it close out the week on 1.6409.

Next up we see how the pound fared against the Euro. We never quite know what to expect here, and the opening rate of 1.2041 gave us little clue. There was a slight improvement to 1.2043 on day one although that was wiped out soon enough. Tuesday saw the pound close lower on 1.2031. The next couple of days gave us something to celebrate though, and by Thursday evening we had finished on 1.2110. We couldn’t hang onto that rate though and the finishing amount was 1.2077 (although this was better than the opening rate on Monday morning).

We now proceed to Hong Kong to see how the dollar there would stand up against the pound, which began the week on 12.731. This was very much an up and down occasion, with an increase one day all but guaranteed to be wiped out the next. There were some good movements during the middle portion of the week though, taking the pound to 12.782 on Thursday before it returned to 12.725 on Friday – slightly lower than Monday’s opening rate.

As for the New Zealand dollar, the pound opened on 1.9789 against this particular currency. The first half of the week saw movements that were incredibly small and cautious compared to what we sometimes see. This led to Wednesday’s finishing rate stalling on 1.9781. The good news was the pound really had left the best for last here, as it shot up to 1.9975 on Thursday evening. It dropped a little on Friday, to 1.9960, but this was not enough to wipe out the significant gains that had been made since Monday morning.

Finally we shall see whether the pound was able to replicate those good results against the Australian dollar as well, or whether it would be mediocre at best. The pound began the week on 1.8250 and this immediately perked up to 1.8315 on Monday evening. There were slight ups and downs throughout the week until the pound managed to hit a high of 1.8580 on Thursday night. Just as it had against the Kiwi dollar, the pound fell on Friday but not enough to eliminate the gains it had made up to that point. It finished on 1.8435 for the week.

Notable events in the world of currency

An incredible improvement against the Canadian dollar

It is rare that we see improvements this good. The pound shot up from 1.7421 to 1.7846 over the course of this week.

A marginal improvement seen against the Swiss franc

Here the pound still improved, but not by as much. It started on 1.4822 and closed the week on 1.4905.

Another great result against the Icelandic krona

The pound started on 188.992 here and succeeded in closing Friday night up considerably to 192.141.

We could have hoped for little more than this for the first week of the New Year. The pound performed admirably in most quarters. In those areas where it did not perform particularly well it still managed to keep its losses to an absolute minimum. It bodes well for next week, although of course no one can be sure whether this week will lead to an equally good one next time around. We shall be back with the answers very soon.